Coronado Visits Schools!

Polk Middle School is located on a beautiful tree-lined street in southwest Albuquerque. Seventh and eighth grade students of New Mexico and American history met in their beautiful library to listen to a talk about the first contact between the Pueblo people and the Spanish, led by a young general named Francisco Vasquez de Coronado.

Trying on chain mail headgear and helmets was probably the most memorable experience for many of the children. Some really engaging pictures were taken of students wearing medieval armor, and they had a great time trying to work a pueblo pump drill as well. Touching ancient pottery sherds and stone ax-heads, actually holding a gourd rattle, playing a drum, listening to a Native American flute, taking a close-up look at native corn grown in our gardens here at Coronado, and actually hold a replicated sword — it was an hour that went by all too quickly for me as well as for the students and teachers. We at Coronado are honored to visit classrooms to share knowledge and artifacts with New Mexico’s children.

Our outreach program is funded by the Friends of Coronado Historic Site. We appreciate their dedication and continual efforts to help our education programs in the Bernalillo and Sandoval County schools!